Process for modifying b. a.-type wool to impart harshness and low luster thereto



Patented Dec. 19, 1950 "PnooEss FOR'MODIFYINGB. JTYPE WooL To IMPART HARSHNESS'AND" LOW LUS- TER THERETO Stuart fa. Swanson, "'surfieia, Conn, 'a ssignor, to

'Bigelow-Sanford Carpet 00., Inc., Thompsonville, Conn, a; corporation of Massachusetts N Drawing. ApplicationJuly 16, 1949, Serial No. 105,268

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to the treatin ent of Wool, to improve the physical propertiesoi the wool and more particularly to a treatment which willenhance the harshness of the wool while at the same time decreasing its lustre.

In the manufacture of pile fabric floor cover- :i rig by the established operations peculiar to this field. .incl uding the carding, spinning, dyeing, -etcqfof the fiber, it'is necessary that the'wool have a certain harshness of texture. In addition,

I thew'ool'in' the pile tufts of the completed product's ho'uld have a low degree of lustre.

B.A.-type'wool, is so deficient in harshness .that it' has not been possible to process it into carpets or rugs by the established procedure and with the equipment presently installed in carpet manufacturing plants, which procedure and equipment operate successfully with the conventional, harsher, carpet wools. Because of the soft, slippery, silk-like nature of the B. A.-type wool fibers, great care and constant attention must be exercised throughout the processin of the wool and the yarn and the Weaving thereof. The resulting product is in a sense a hand-made article and commercial production by the established practice is not feasible.

Itflis'" an object of the present invention to pro- 'vide 'a process for harshening and delustering B. A.-type wools thereby to extend their use in the manufacture'of pile fabric floor coverings. By the present invention I provide a process extent that the modified wool may be manufactured into pile fabric floor covering on a commercial scale by the conventional procedure andapparatus with only normal attention duringthe processing. It is possible to manufacture on a commercial basis pile fabric fioor'coverings consisting entirely of B. A.-type wools modified by my process. The treatment of my invention also decreases the lustre of the wool.

I have discovered that by treating these soft, silk-like, lustrous, slipper B. A.-type wools with an acid aqueous suspension of titanium dioxide, preferably in a bath containing the titanium dioxide, the fibers of these wools are rendered harsher so that they may be handled by the methods conventional in the carpet manufacturin industry, in which methods the harsher conventional carpet wools are used. Also, at the same time, the lustre of said fibers, which is un desirable in conventional domestic rugs and carpets, is decreased.

The f ollo vving is given asan'examme r my I process:

Abatch of raw 13. a. wool steel; weighin a ou 900 pounds is immersed in a treating bath comprising about 4,000 ga1lons of cold Water containing 6% pounds of titanium dioxide suspended therein and adjusted to a pH of 3-5 with sulfuric acid. Heat is applied to the bath'while the liquor is being circulated through the wool'and the bath brought to the boil and maintained at the boiling point for about 5 minutes. Thereafter, the wool is rinsed in running tap water, removed from the bath and dried. The resulting modified wool can be processed into pile fabric floor covering by the conventional procedures employed with the usual carpet wools with no more than normal care and attention.

The treating bath, I'have found, gives best results when its pI-Iis 3 to 5, and accordingly I may include in the treating bath an acid such as sulfuric acid or an acidic salt such as sodium bisulfate in an amount suflicient to brin the pH into this range. V

I prefer that the treating bath be kept at the boil during the treatment, as in the foregoing example, and that the wool be kept in the bath at or near the boil for a period ofapproximately 5 to 15 minutes. However, satisfactory modification of the wool may beobtained at lower temperatures by allowing the wool to remain standing in the bath for correspondingly longer periods of time. In this case, the titanium dioxide may be incorporated in the bath in the same proportion-used with the boiling bath.

Conveniently, the wool may be subjected to the treatment of this invention concurrently with acid dyeing of the W001, The following example illustrates treatment of the wool in this way.

Preliminary to the acid dyeing operation I add to the bath of cold dye liquor about 4% of titanium dioxide, based on the weight of the wool. The wool, preferably, in raw stock form, is then immersed in the acid dye-bath and subjected to the normal dyeing operation, in which the bath is brought to the boil and the wool exposed to the action of the hot titanium dioxide and during which operation the wool will absorb substantially the entire titanium dioxide content of the bath. The titanium dioxide used in the present invention is compatible with all acid dyes.

I have found that the proportion of titanium dioxide present in the treating liquid may be varied, depending upon the degree of modification to be imparted to the wool and upon the temperature of the treatment, and I prefer to include in the bath amounts of titanium dioxide ranging from about up to about 10%, by weight of the wool to be treated, preferably about 2 when the mode of treatment employed is a standing bath as described above.

Another mode of treatment is to treat the wool with the titanium dioxide as a continuous operation in a moving stream of treating liquid. Thus the wool may be treated as it is subjected to the rinsing operation which normally follows the scouring operation in the preparation of Wool fibers for use in pile fabric floor coverings. This procedure is particularly useful with wools which are not to be dyed but are to be manufactured into yarn of their natural color. In many cases the rinsing following the scouring operation is carried out with water at a temperature of about l40-160 F. The titanium dioxide content of the rinse bath should approximate /2% to 8%, preferably about of the weight of the wool. The wool is passed through the rinsing tank in a continuous operation and the titanium dioxide therefore must be continually supplied to the tank to maintain the desired concentration therein. For this purpose any appropriate, constant-rate feeding means may be employed.

The treatment of the present invention when applied to the B. A.-type wools serves to convert a wool which can be used only in minor proportions, if at all, for the manufacture of pile fabric floor coverings, into a wool which can be used substantially in the same way as the conventional carpet wools. Wool treated by my process may be spun into yarn which may then be woven as the pile of pile fabric floor coverings, notwithstanding the fact that the original stock was largely or entirel a B. A.-type wool which inherently is incapable of being processed on the conventional carpet manufacturing apparatus. Such pile has a coarse harsh texture and a lack of lustre far different from the texture and lustre of untreated B. A.-type wools and comparable with the texture and lack of lustre of the conventional carpet wools.

Raw B. A.-type wool stock modified by my process may be mixed with conventional carpet wools in all proportions to give a wool mixture suitable for use in forming the pile of pile fabric floor coverings.

By the term B. A.-type wool as used herein, I mean wool having the characteristics of B. A. wool as regards its soft, slippery nature, its lustre and its lack of harshness and fullness as contrasted with the conventional carpet wools. I

I use the term B. A. wool in its ordinary meaning in the trade, i. e., wool from the Lincolntype sheep as grown in South America. The

B. A.-type wools available today consist primarily of B. A. wool and wool from the Lincoln sheep as grown in New Zealand.

Although the above specific examples of my process, given by way of illustration and not of limitation, relate to procedures in which the wool is immersed in a bath of the treating liquid, it is not intended thereby to exclude other ways of wetting the wool with the treating solution, such as by sprinkling, spraying, etc.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 1,910, filed January 12, 1948, now abandoned, for Modification of Wool to Impart Harshness and Low Lustre Thereto.

I claim:

1. The process for imparting to B. A.-type wool the properties of harshness requisite for conversion of the wool by standard procedures into pile fabric floor covering, and for decreasing its lustre, which consists essentially in wetting the wool with an acid aqueous dispersion of to 10% of the weight of the wool of titanium dioxide.

2. The process for imparting to B. A.-type wool the propert of harshness, requisite for conversion of the wool by standard procedures into pile fabric floor covering, and for decreasing its lustre, which comprises immersing the wool for approximately 5 to 15 minutes in a boiling aqueous bath, at a pH of 3 to 5 and consisting essentially of an aqueous suspension of /2% to 10% of the weight of the wool of titanium dioxide.

3. The process as in claim 2 in which lower than boiling temperatures and longer periods of time are used.

STUART E. SWANSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,941,285 Teichmann Dec. 26, 1933 1,930,428 Parkinson Nov. 13, 1934 2,068,877 Spence Jan. 26, 1937 2,147,533 Katzoif Feb. 14, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,556 Great Britain 1901 488,836 Great Britain July 14, 1938 OTHER REFERENCES Trotman, Experiments on the Weighting of Knitted Woolen Goods, J Soc. Chem. Ind., Aug. 14, 1931, pages 299T-303T. Page 300T especially pertinent. 

1. THE PROCESS FOR IMPARTING TO B. A.-TYPE WOOL THE PROPERTIES OF HARSHNESS REQUISITE FOR CONVERSION OF THE WOOL BY STANDARD PROCEDURES INTO PILE FABRIC FLOOR COVERING, AND FOR DECREASING ITS LUSTRE, WHICH CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY IN WETTING THE WOOL WITH AN ACID AQUEOUS DISPERSION OF 1/2% TO 10% OF THE WEIGHT OF THE WOOL OF TITANIUM DIOXIDE. 